What Platform Are You On?
As small and medium sized businesses, we are all looking for ways to stand out in the crowded digital landscape. But with so many platforms, choosing where to spend your time daily is a real challenge. We analyze each client to ascertain where they may get the most bang for the buck. Let us help break it down a little for just a few of the most popular social media platforms.
Facebook – Love it or hate it, Facebook is still the most used, visited, and advertised on platform in the digital social realm. With over 2.9 billion users a month, it is still a leading driver for a lot of companies. However, because it is so large and so used, the 7 million advertisers a month make it harder for your small business to stand out organically. If you have a business, you must have a presence on Facebook. But, to be successful, you have to advertise as well. Know your market, know your audience, and know your product to create ads with a personal touch.
YouTube – Butting up against Facebook is the #1 ROI video platform out there. Estimates of 2.5 billion users a month make this an attractive platform that any business wants to be on. However, small and medium sized businesses rarely have the funds for professional videos that are needed when creating fun and creative content people will want to see. We have looked at YouTube as a platform as part of our overall marketing strategy for clients, but the budget always stops us short. You can advertise alone on YouTube, however, and we are looking at that option for some clients. However, without a page that has some video on it, it may not be the best spend when advertising funds are limited.
Instagram – Instagram is the land of stories, reels, and posts that people can scroll through endlessly. Owned by Meta, Facebook’s company, Instagram soared as the place to be for many years. Even with competitors like TikTok, it stands tall as a platform people love. Small business loves it too, as evidenced by its $25 Billion in ad revenue last year. Ads are easy on Instagram, and if you are good with your camera, you can do promotion with little out of pocket expense. Another great thing? Facebook lets your ads from their platform transfer to Instagram at no extra cost!
TikTok – The fastest growing platform in 2021 is bringing in 1 billion users a month! If you are looking for an audience that is 30 and under, TikTok must be a part of your social media plan. Especially if you love keeping up with trends, have an upbeat personality, and a product line that has flair! TikTok is now allowing longer videos and more robust advertising for users, so it may be the platform to ride to the top over the next year or so! We have several clients that we manage their accounts for and all of them are doing better than expected!
Twitter – We tell clients all the time: If you are not a politician, a celebrity, or looking for earned media, Twitter can seem like a wasteland. Truth is, if you are a company that wants to be able to handle comments, complaints about your products, or chat about it directly with clients, Twitter may be an avenue to consider. It is a platform for current events and can get very cumbersome very quickly. You must have someone watching it if you are using it for customer contact.
LinkedIn – We love LinkedIn for small business. It is not as crowded of a space as other channels, and it is very business centric. No longer just a place to find a job, it allows you to showcase your product, your daily doings and anything else ‘business’ to potential customers. We use it for brand recognition, hiring, and new product announcements for our clients.
No matter the platform you choose, they all need attention and effort to work for you. You get out of them what you put in!
Need advice or someone to handle your social for you? Give us a call!